


Two Different Ways

by Nevanna



Category: X-Men Evolution
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 09:23:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4954975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevanna/pseuds/Nevanna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean tries to offer Wanda a chance at a different life, and faces the possibility of what her own life could have been.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Different Ways

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the "self control" challenge on the ComIc Drabbles LiveJournal community.
> 
> Content warning for implicit references to the institutionalization and neglect that are part of Wanda's backstory.

“Looking for a rematch?”

Standing by the mall fountain, shopping bags in hand, Wanda Maximoff appears no more or less intimidating than any other Goth girl making the most of a Saturday afternoon. If any of her new teammates are nearby, Jean can neither see nor sense them. “I’m not interested in fighting you, Wanda,” she says. “And I’m not convinced that you want to fight us, either.”

“You think you know what I want?” Wanda sneers. “That’s really cute.”

Jean risks a step closer. “Professor Xavier told me about your past. He said that he was trying to teach you self-control while you were in the hospital. He was able to do that for me, and if you give him a chance…”

“What if he couldn’t?”

“What do you mean?” Jean asks. “Are you asking what would happen if he couldn’t help you?”

“No.” Wanda almost growls the single syllable. “I meant, if he couldn’t help _you_. How much destruction would your parents have put up with before they locked you away, too?”

Jean could protest that her family wasn’t scared of her when her powers first surfaced, when she started answering their thoughts out loud and smashing dishes without touching them, but she’s known how they really felt, even if they tried to hide it. She won’t let that distract her now. “I can’t imagine how alone you must have felt,” she says.

“What were you planning to tell me next?” Wanda demands. “That I don’t _have_ to be alone? Ask Xavier how many times I _begged_ him to let me out. He doesn’t get to add me to his collection now.” The air around her hands shimmers, for just a moment, and for the second time since they met, Jean knows that it’s time to back away.


End file.
